Stefano sighed. “Our women. We think they’re the emotional ones. They see us so clearly. Taviano went to Francesca and asked her what to do. She told me I could have handled the situation so much better. She even told me several ways I could have. At the same time, she was sympathetic and sweet as only Francesca can be.”
Geno understood exactly what Stefano was saying. Francesca could reprimand and yet still be compassionate. It never felt as if she were putting you down.
“Francesca is one in a million, Stefano. I believe Amaranthe is as well.” He paused for a moment, listening to the laughter coming from the kitchen. Their family. It was amazing how when they were altogether, he felt so much more relaxed.
Stefano nodded. “I want that for you. After all you’ve been through, I want her to love you the way Francesca loves me.”
“I believe she’s getting there. I see it when she looks at me. She’s never had a family and we intimidate her just a little bit. She wants us though. She definitely accepts Salvatore and Lucca.”
“That woman is lightning fast. I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” Stefano admitted. “I’ve known there were elite riders. There had to be. Elie and I even discussed it, but to see her in action was shocking. I’ve had conversations with Jean-Claude that I know pertained to cases he was worried about. Later, I wondered if he sent an elite rider to investigate.”
“He wanted to have me trained, but I didn’t fit the mold,” Geno admitted. “So unbeknownst to me, he had Salvatore trained. Lucca is too much like me. We don’t conform.”
“He clearly wanted to train Nicoletta,” Stefano said. “I can understand when there is such a need. At the same time, it’s sad enough the way we must train our children. When Emmanuelle fell in love with Valentino, I had to take a good hard look at what a shadow rider is and face up to what we really are. Our family wanted to condemn him, not only for what he does, but for claiming Emme. I tied Francesca to me as fast as I could. My brothers did the same as soon as they were certain the woman was the right one. How could we condemn Valentino for doing exactly what we did?”
Lucca stuck his head in the open archway. “Come eat, you two. You know Taviano and Salvatore. They won’t leave you anything if you’re late. Not even Francesca is going to save you, and she’ll try. Don’t put her in that position.”
Stefano and Geno followed Lucca back to the large dining table, where the food was in silver warmers along the opposite wall. Stefano stopped to circle Francesca’s waist and drop a kiss on the top of her head.
“You’ll be happy to know Geno and I have made our peace,bella.”
Francesca tipped her head back, her dark eyes shining at him. “Well, of course you have. I never had any doubts.” She sent Geno a dazzling smile.
“It was a long day for Amaranthe,” Geno said as he came up beside his fiancée to serve the lasagna onto her plate. “The studio felt as if it were under siege. All the little girls were crying or angry. Ms. Marchel turned into the biggest bitch of all time. She never wanted the job Amara eventually was given but acted jealous because Amaranthe was head instructor. She was offered the job several times but turned it down. She knew it was the head instructor position.”
“Amaranthe dances better than she could ever have hoped to dance,” Salvatore said, seating himself at the table. “She’s beautiful, and every prestigious dance company would love to have her as their principal dancer. Ms. Marchel was never going to be anything but a mediocre dancer.”
“That isn’t very kind, Salvatore,” Amaranthe said as she carried her plate to the table.
“I’m not being rude, I’m stating a fact. I also think she has the hots for Geno.”
Geno snapped his head around to glare at his younger brother. “She doesn’t.”
“Yeah, she does,” Lucca confirmed. “There’s nothing like a woman scorned. You never so much as looked at her, which was probably fine. She most likely has all kinds of fantasies about you. Hot ones.”
Geno threw hot sourdough bread at his head. Lucca picked it one-handed out of the air with a grin.
“She didn’t. Amaranthe, that hideous woman never even looked at me,” Geno assured.
“I suppose I’ll have to get used to you being a sex symbol to all these women,” Amaranthe said with a pathetic sigh. She looked at Nicoletta and then Francesca. “It reallyis a challenge putting up with these Ferraro men and their flirtatious ways, isn’t it?”
Geno nearly choked on the water he was drinking. A roar of laughter went around the table. Lucca nearly fell off his chair.
“I’ll give you that Stefano could be considered a sex symbol, but Geno?” Lucca asked when he could finally speak.
“Have you ever actually looked at the magazines all of you are in?” Nicoletta inquired very softly, pinning Lucca with her large dark eyes. “Believe me, all of us have looked at them, with your ten thousand women hanging off your arms.”
Geno groaned. “Don’t, honey. I’m still trying to convince Amaranthe I’m not the kind of man women want to take home to mother. Well, except her. She wants to take me home.”
“I do?” Amaranthe’s eyebrow shot up.
“Yes.” Geno was very firm. “You do.”
His phone buzzed. The downstairs desk informed him that Detectives Patrick Bowden and Terence Laker were there to see Geno, Salvatore, Lucca and Amaranthe. Geno sighed and gave the okay to have the two policemen come up to his home.
“For them to want to see the four of us, this has to have something to do with what went on in the studio this afternoon.”
“Put your lawyer on standby,” Stefano suggested.
